Merv's Texas Adventures

Discussion in 'SBAF Blogs' started by purr1n, Dec 31, 2020.

  1. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    This doesn't have to be racial or political. Personally, I wished I got to see videos like that when I was in high school. FWIW, my kids' black or mixed-black school friends tell me that their mom's teach them this kind of stuff early, how to behave properly in front of police. All this is good practical advice, no matter the reality, no matter the race, no matter the police officer, no matter whether people's mom's gave them a proper don't get unnecessarily killed by police talk.
     
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  2. Friday

    Friday Friend

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    It should be shown on flights to US as well. One of my friend got pulled over for turning round a wrong a corner while on exchange to the US 5-6 years back. He turned his head to look out of the window, as is normal in many other countries, and the cop immediately reached for his gun. No shots were fired, but that could very well have been cos my friend immediately faced the front and made it clear his hands were on the steering wheel, but if it had been anyone else who got stunned and continued staring at the cop, it could very well have gone south. FWIW the cop just lectured him and cracked a joke afterwards, but it's never nice to have a gun in your face
     
  3. HHS

    HHS Almost "Made"

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    Yes, this is known as "the talk" in black households. I remember getting it.
     
  4. Azimuth

    Azimuth FKA rtaylor76, Friend

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    How about train the cop not to escalate the situation by always grabbing for their gun? Must we have an authoritarian police presence?
     
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  5. Wilewarer

    Wilewarer Almost "Made"

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    When I heard about "the talk", I wondered why I never got anything like that. Then I realized that growing up in one of the neighborhoods all the cops live in is kind of like an immersion program version of it.
     
  6. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    I'm not American (as you all know, haa haa ;) ) and you guys have particular problems, other countries have other particular problems.

    But I was doing some Mindless Quora Browsing the other day and reading some stuff about what to say/not-say to a cop, how to respond to "requests" to search the vehicle, etc etc etc. Whilst it was American cop/law based, it still made me think that everybody needs that education. Being tazed in Brixton can't be much fun either, although it usually (usually) doesn't kill.

    BTW, just in case I ever do visit USA... What's the face-front thing? I'm a friendly respectful Brit who certainly turns to face the person speaking to me. Sounds like I might need to know why not!
     
  7. haywood

    haywood Friend

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    It’s all about perceived threat. The reason they say to have your hands visible and wait calmly for the police is because doing otherwise is also a sign of someone looking to pull a gun and shoot their way out of a ticket or arrest. I’m no fan of the police but cops are understandably like anyone else in not wanting to be killed.
     
  8. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    USA is different from a lot of countries. Most police in London don't carry guns. I've seen this myself with the random London idiot lying down in the middle of Regent street and the London police (no gun, no holsters, at least from what I could see) peacefully cajoling to said idiot to get off the road. In the USA, especially Texas, it's best to assume any person has a gun. Jehovah Witnesses who go around door to door are often met with the sound of a slide being pulled back behind the door - so I am told.
     
    Last edited: Jun 22, 2022
  9. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    Almost all British police don't. It's like a part of the unwritten constitution. Only those in special operations are armed.

    But they could still spoil your day, even before they had tasers. Especially if you happen to be black.
     
  10. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    At popular request (more posts about food in Texas):

    Found legit biryana place in San Antonio. Biryani Express on Huebner Road. It's a tiny hole in the wall place and it's clean. We knew it was good the minute we stepped in because we were the only non-Indian people there. This was my second visit. The first visit was by myself.

    What makes this place special is the dum biryani. No, it's not like the real thing. I've only time I've had the real thing when I was in Dubai UAE. The Indian crew over there was so kind to me (the locals in Dubai hire Indians and Filipinos to run their country) and ordered dum biryana for lunch. I had never had anything like this before. It was so delicious. It's rice and goodies (mutton, spices, flavors) cooked inside a clay pot and covered with dough. Everything gets steamed inside the pot. The goodies are near the bottom so when when you take the cooked dough off the pot, you stir the rice around a bit and scoop up the goodies at the bottom of the pot.

    I've never seen anything like this in the USA. However, this place is close enough. It's as good as the best dum biryani places I've been to in California.
    PXL_20220616_014316093.jpg

    I usually order the Chicken 65, but this time around ordered the Hyderbadi chicken dum biryana and a spice mutton. Can anyone tell me why it's called Chicken 65?
     
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  11. rhythmdevils

    rhythmdevils MOT: rhythmdevils audio

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    i don’t know but Indian food names are very direct without any romanticism or anything. Palak paneer literally means “spinach cheese” aloo gobi literally means “potatoes cauliflower” etc they’re all like that so I suspect it’s something similarly direct about something local.
     
  12. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    I thought there may a story around it since as you said, the dishes are usually very simple descriptors.
     
  13. rhythmdevils

    rhythmdevils MOT: rhythmdevils audio

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    Oh I would kill for some good Indian food! It’s been so long. I took a cooking class while I was in India from a restaurant where all the locals ate. I used to make my own curry spice mix from scratch.

    I make a curried salmon with coconut oil cooked on the BBQ that is so good. Gets a bit crispy in the thinner parts.
     
  14. gurubhai

    gurubhai Friend

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    The recipe was supposedly invented in 1965 or was that because it was made with 65 spices or maybe because it was made by collaboration of 65 villages .........
    Perhaps 65 other back stories!
     
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  15. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Seriously?! That's awesome. Sounds like one of those Asian legend things, e.g. Lemon Chicken, stew/soup stocking simmering for 139 years, etc.
     
  16. CEE TEE

    CEE TEE MOT: NITSCH

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  17. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    It's a mystery even in India, and there are indeed at least 65 theories! Maybe the Buhari thing is right.
     
  18. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Texas ERCOT... heat wave ugh...
    upload_2022-7-11_12-14-6.png

    No wind this afternoon!
    upload_2022-7-11_12-17-30.png
     
  19. scblock

    scblock Friend

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    Most of the Great Plains and into west and central Texas have the lowest winds in the summer months and the winds tend to be stronger overnight and weaker in the middle of the day. It’s just kind of how the wind flows in the region, and not greatly correlated with peak summer loads. Combine it with solar though and it’s not too bad, they tend to work together on that front. I’m looking forward to storage becoming more common.
     
  20. Biodegraded

    Biodegraded Friend

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    Alberta has the same problem in the winter. The wind turbines are mostly in the Rocky Mountain foothills where they catch the westerly Chinooks (Foehn winds), but these are warming events. In the coldest spells (= peak demand), Arctic lows pool up against the mountains and calmly sit there - as do the turbines, so it's necessary to run the thermal stations at full capacity.

    At least the thermal stations have almost all been converted from coal to gas (the last being due next year), thereby saving a lot of emissions.
     

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